Cotton harvesting machine



NOV. 17, 194-2. ,c BROWN ETAL' 2,302,180

COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 10, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Nov. 17, 1942. c. F. BROWN ETAL 2,302,180

' COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 10, 1941 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lv VIIQEQ'TIII/(IIIIIIII 3 INVENTORS 6M; 32m and Nov. 17, 1942.

1 lull V C. F. BROWN ET AL COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 37 INVENTbRS 26 fi/wwn/ gym; wax-w Patented Nov. 17, 1942 COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Charles F. Brown, Edgewood, and Albert M. Hanauer, Pittsburgh, Pa., said Brown assignor to said Hanauer Application December 10, 1941, Serial No. 422,370

8 Claims.

This invention relates to cotton-harvesting machinery and, more specifically, to a cottonharvesting machine having certain of the characteristics of the machine of the Wirth patent, 1,901,686, granted March 14, 1933. The invention consists in improvements, whereby structure is simplified and efiiciency is increased.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a view, partly in side elevation, partly in axial section, of the picking cylinder of a cotton-harvesting machine in which my present invention is embodied. The picking cylinder is here shown in assembly with its co-operating machine parts. Fig. II is a view in horizontal section of the picking cylinder, on the plane of section indicated by the line II--II, Fig. I, and in Fig. II certain features of organization and operation are diagrammatically indicated. The plane of section of Fig. I is indicated in Fig. II by the line II. Fig. III is a View to larger scale, showing the picking cylinder fragmentarily and in axial section, on the plane indicated at IIIIII, Fig. II. Fig. IV is a view in elevation of the cylinderborne picking needle, with the associated parts shown in section and, again, in the axial plane of section. Figs. V-VIII are views to yet larger scale, illustrating the co-operation of picking needle and stripper-bar. Fig. V shows the needle fragmentarily in elevation, and. it shows the stripper-bar in section, the plane of section being axial with reference to the picking cylinder; Figs. VI and VII are views in section, on planes indicated at VI-VI and VIIVII respectively, Fig. V; and Fig. VIII is a view in vertical and axial section through the picking needle. Comparing Figs. V and VIII, the stripper-bar will be seen in difierent positions, relatively to the needle.

A casing I, which will be understood to be adapted for mounting rigidly in the frame of a vehicle, carries rigidly a vertically arranged post 2. A picking cylinder 3 is rotatably borne by the post. The cylinder at its upper end, and within the casing carries a worm-gear 4, through which it may be rotated by a worm 5, and worm 5 in turn may be driven.

The picking cylinder carries the picking needles 6. The needles are mounted to extend radially outward from the cylinder; they are rotatable in their mounting; and they are conveniently arranged in rows, both longitudinally and circumferentially of the cylinder. As indicated in Figs. III and IV, the needles rotate freely in orifices in the wall of cylinder 3. 4 H

The picking cylinder 3 may be formed of metal,

bar.

as herein indicated, or it may be molded of a suitable plastic material. And needless to say the wall of the cylinder may be longitudinally corrugated, to increase its strength and rigidity; or it may be provided with webs, or other suitable reinforcement known to the engineer.

The needles are serrated with outwardly inclined teeth 1 (see, particularly, Figs. V and VIII); and, when a rotating needle is thrust into a cotton plant with cotton fully matured, these 7 teeth, picking up the fluffed-out fibre, draw the cotton from the boll and wrap it upon the needle.

Co-operating with each vertical row of picking needles is a stripper-bar 8; and each needle extends through an orifice of an associated stripper- In machine operation the stripper-bar advances from the inner or basal to the outer or distal end of the needle, and, in so doing, strips from the needle the mass of cotton which in operation the rotating needle has wrapped upon itself. The outward inclination of the teeth 1 upon the needle allows the stripper-bar to be efiective in driving the wrapped-on mass of cotton over and beyond the end of the needle. The stripper-bars slide upon rods 9 and ID that extend radially from the cylinder. At their ends the stripper-bars are equipped with rollers ll, engaged by tracks formed in plates 12 and i3. Plate [2 is rigidly borne by easing I at the upper end of the mounted cylinder, and plate I3 is rigidly carried by post 2 at the lower end of the mounted cylinder. The plates [2 and I3 are so shaped and the tracks formed in them so disposed that, with each rotation of the cylinder, the stripper-bars in succession and at the appropriate point traverse the associated picking needles from base to distal end and return again to inactive position at the needle base. The path of stripper progress is in Fig. II indicated by the broken line P.

This invention has particularly to do with the picking needle and the stripper-barwith the driving mechanism, by which the needle is rotated, and with the organization of the needle with the stripper-bar, to efiect the ends in view.

In orifices in the picking cylinder 3 bushings M are set. Through these bushings the picking needles extend, and within the bushings the needles are freely rotatable (of. Figs. III and IV).

The rigid post 2' carries, rigidly, within the wall of cylinder 3, segmental (as here shown, semicircular) disks IS; the disks l5 carry bands or guides l6 that extend in the arcs of circles centered in the axis of cylinder turning; the bands rise from the faces of the disks and taperfrom the base outwardly (see Fig. III). With these bands sheaves borne by the picking needles make engagement, and, as a rope upon a pulley-wheel, these bands effect rotation of the needles as the needle-carrying cylinder rotates.

I use the term disk in a general sense, to indicate a plate extending transversely from the post. As the drawings show, it is an incomplete disk (of semi-circular form) and extends from one side only of the post.

The sheaves are mounted on the inner ends of the picking needles within the wall of cylinder 3. Each is a split sheave. One part I! (the outer), rigidly mounted upon the needle 6, may abut upon the end of the bushing l4 through which the needle extends, and thus afford firm resistance when the stripping operation is in progress. The other sheave part i8, splined upon the shaft of the needle, as indicated at l8a, Fig. IV, is backed by a spring 19. Both sheave parts are tractive in the engagement with the associate band l6, and, if for any reason one sheave part does not engage the band with sufficient traction to rotate the needle, the other sheave part will. The tension of the spring is effective to advance the sheave part l8 toward its rigidly mounted companion, and in the assembly the split sheave, driven under spring tension, compressively engages the band It. The materials of band and of sheave parts and the strength of the spring l9 are such as to effect rotation of the picking needles in response to cylinder turning with such power as normally to accomplish the gathering of the cotton. The driving connection, however, is such that, if great resistance to needle rotation is accidentally encountered, there will be yielding, and damage will be avoided.

The bands may be formed of usual material, of rubber, Bakelite or other plastic material, and may be reinforced with fabric. Each band l6 cooperates in the manner described with the needles of one of the circumferential rows upon the picking cylinder. As shown in Fig. III, a single disk 15 is shown to carry upon its two faces two bands 16. These two bands are engaged from above and from below by the sheaves of the picking needles of successive rows. It is manifest that by such provision the needles in vertical succession may be caused to rotate oppositely; and that is a preferable condition of operation for, the effective gathering of cotton.

Rotation of the picking needles is desired throughout a portion only of the rotation of the cylinder that carries them. So long as the needles are in advanced position in the cotton plants, their rotation is essential; but when in the course of rotation of the cylinder the needles are withdrawn from the cotton plants, their rotation is no longer essential; and, as stripping progresses, and thereafter as the needles are exposed to the approach of attendants from the sides of the machine, it is desirable that the needles be no longer in rotation. Accordingly, and as particularly shown in Fig. II, the bands I6 extend through an are that is but a fraction (in this case, half) of the circumference of cylinder rotation. It will be observed, further, on considering Fig. II, that, while the stripper bars 8, following pathway P, begin their advance upon the picking needles while the needles still are in rotation (a condition that, thus far, is unobjectionable) they complete their advance after the picking needles have passed beyond the ends of bands 16 and, no longer impelled, no longer rotate. When a stripper-bar has in the progress of operation advanced to the distal end of a row of needles and begins to recede, the needles must not be free to recede with them. Accordingly, arc-shaped abutments 20 are provided, mounted also upon column 2, and conveniently upon the disks l5, and complementary in their extent to the bands I6. These abutments 20 are so placed that, borne upon by the needles, they support the needles from retraction when the stripper-bars are receding upon them from distal to basal end.

In orifices in the stripper-bars thimbles 2| are mounted. The thimbles are secured in the stripper bars in screw-threaded engagement, and are therefore readily removable and replaceable. Secured Within each thimble, but rotatable therein, is a sleeve 24 freely rotatable in a bushing 26 of known self-lubricating material, such material, for example, as porous bronze impregnated with graphite. By virtue of such material for the bearing or bushing 26 the necessity for lubrication is eliminated, and a soiling of the gathered cotton avoided. The needles are grooved longitudinally, as indicated at 22, Fig. IV; and a plurality of such grooves is desirable (Figs. VI and VII show three, and that is an adequate number). The rotary sleeves 24 are provided with corresponding teeth 23 that in the assembly enter the grooves. The sleeve and bushing assembly are held within the thimbles by means of a washer 21 upon the outer face of which the proximate edge of the thimble is turned, as at 28.

By such construction of the thimble the strip- .ping of the wrapped-on cotton from the needles is facilitated and rendered more effective. In stripping, the sleeve 24 rotates with the needle; and, manifestly, such being the provision, stripping may begin and go forward (as is indicated in Fig.

II) even while the needle continues in rotation. The teeth 23, effective in causing the sleeves 24 to rotate in unison with the needle 6 and within the self-lubricating bushings 25, have the incidental capacity, as the needles advance and recede, of keeping the grooves 22 free of accumulations of lint, sap, etc.

It need only be added that in Fig. II the directions of vehicle advance and of cylinder rotation are indicated by arrows; that two cylinders commonly are provided, symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the vertical mid plane of the vehicle; and that it is the upper side of the cylinder as seen in Fig. II that faces the companion cylinder, on the opposite side of the machine.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a picking cylinder rotatable upon a standard and two picking needles rotatably borne by the cylinder and arranged at successive points longitudinally of the cylinder, the needle-rotating means herein described which consist in a disk borne by the standard and extending transversely to the length of the cylinder, two strips borne by the said disk upon its oppositefaces and extending in arcs of circles centered in the axis of cylinder rotation, and two sheaves borne severally by the two said picking needles and in the course of cylinder rotation severally engaging the two said strips and deriving from such engagement rotation in opposite directions.

2. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a rotatable picking cylinder equipped with a radially extending, rotatable, longitudinally grooved picking needle and a stripper-bar reciprocable relatively to the picking needle, through which the picking needle extends, the

invention herein described which consists in a sleeve rotatably mounted in the stripper-bar through which in the assembly the picking needle extends, the sleeve being provided with a tooth extending into the groove in the picking needle.

3. The structure of claim 2, the sleeve being elongate and carrying said tooth at its forward end.

4. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a picking cylinder rotatable upon a standard and equipped with a radially extending, rotatable picking needle, and a stripper-bar reciprocable relatively to the picking needle and through which in the assembly the picking needle extends, the invention herein described which consists in a strip borne by the standard and extending in the arc of a circle centered in the axis of cylinder rotation, and a sheave rigidly borne by the picking needle at its basal end and Within the cylinder, such sheave in the course of cylinder rotation engaging said strip and deriving rotation from such engagement, and abutting also upon the cylinder wall from within and by such abutment resisting the stress of stripping.

5. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a picking cylinder rotatable upon a standard and equipped with a radially extending, rotatable picking needle, and a stripper-bar reciprocable relatively to the picking needle and through which in the assembly the picking needle extends, the invention herein described which consists in a plate borne by the standard and extending in the arc of a circle centered in the axis of cylinder rotation and in its position ordinated with the means for reciprocating the stripper-bar and affording abutment for the picking needle at its base when in the course of cylinder rotation said reciprocating means are effective in moving the stripper-bar inward.

6. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a picking cylinder rotatable upon a standard and equipped with a radially-extending, rotatable picking needle, and a stripper-bar reciprocable relatively to the picking needle and through Which in the assembly the picking needle extends, the invention herein described which consists in a strip borne by the standard and extending in the arc of a circle centered in the axis of cylinder rotation, an abutment borne by the standard and extending in the arc of a circle centered in the axis of cylinder rotation, the arc-shaped strip and the arc-shaped abutment arranged in the assembly in complementary positions around the circle of cylinder rotation, the picking needle being equipped with a sheave, the picking needle in the course of cylinder rotating successively engaging (1) through the said sheaves the said strip and (2) at its basal end the said abutment.

7. In a cotton-harvesting machine that includes a rotating, longitudinally grooved picking needle, and a stripper-bar through which said needle extends; the invention herein described that comprises a member including teeth extending into the grooves in said needle, said member being rotatably borne by said stripper-bar through CHARLES F. BROWN. 

